We Sent Our Kids to Be Safe And the System Ate Them

A Statewide Pattern of Abuse, Neglect, and Cover-Ups in Kentucky Schools

If you’ve been paying attention, really paying attention, what’s happening in Pendleton County isn’t just an isolated failure. It’s a reflection. A microcosm. A warning.

Across Kentucky, the walls are cracking and behind them, something rotten is seeping out. From quiet corners of classrooms, special education classrooms, buses, to locker rooms ruled by silence and fear, the evidence is no longer anecdotal. It’s everywhere.   It can happen anytime and instead of being given the weight it deserves, it is ignored.

This is not just about bad apples. It’s about a system that quietly allowed the orchard to rot.  Below are only examples of many more cases statewide.

The Greenup County Horror Show

In 2024, Greenup County made headlines. But most people only saw the tip.

What was really uncovered at McKell Elementary wasn’t just abuse, it was a daily torture cycle. Security footage allegedly captured over 1,100 incidents of abuse in just 19 school days. Five non-verbal special-needs children, some just beginning to understand the world, became silent witnesses to their own trauma. The staff didn’t just fail them. They caged them.

And when the story broke?

1,188 criminal charges.
Four indicted employees.
Four school board members resigned, not out of shame, but after their own text messages mocking disabled children were exposed.

They laughed about it. Then tried to hide it.

Raceland-Worthington: The Echo Chamber

Just months later, it happened again.

This time in Raceland. Same setup. Special needs students. Non-verbal. Same pattern of abuse. Same failure to protect. And once again, no meaningful oversight until public exposure forced action.

If you’re seeing a pattern, you should be.

Covington Independent Schools: 20+ Years of Abuse

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that Covington Independent Public Schools violated federal Title IX requirements by failing to properly respond to reports of sexual harassment involving students and a former principal at the district’s Transformational Learning Center. Investigators concluded the district did not promptly offer supportive measures, failed to fully investigate complaints, and did not adequately inform students about how to file formal written complaints under Title IX. The principal involved, William “Sean” Bohannon — who retired in late 2023 — was accused of making students uncomfortable, but the district’s internal handling of the situation did not meet federal procedural standards. In response, Superintendent Alvin Garrison signed a voluntary resolution agreement in September 2024 to revise policies, improve training, and conduct systemic reviews to prevent future failures in responding to harassment complaints.

Original 9 news article

“Silence and Secrets” in High School Athletics

While special-needs children were being restrained and humiliated in classrooms, another story was unfolding in gymnasiums and locker rooms.

A Courier Journal investigation uncovered 80 cases of alleged sexual misconduct by Kentucky school coaches in the past 15 years.  Multiple issues of physical abuse pop up at numerous schools also.

Let that sink in.
Eighty coaches.
Eighty breaches of trust.
Eighty young lives permanently altered.

Most of it stayed in-house. Quiet settlements. Lateral job moves. “Passing the Trash”, a term now so common it has its own bill in the legislature (2026’s “no transfer without disclosure” rule).

But do you know what didn’t happen?

They didn’t fix it.

Pendleton County: The Local Mirror

Pendleton isn’t an outlier. It’s a mirror.

Whistleblowers, staff burnout, student intimidation, and years of unreported incidents.
Lack of transparency from school officials.
A teacher allegedly watching pornography during school hours.

Parent after parent reporting different abuse allegations just to us.  Everyone spoke up, nothing changed. Administrators intimidating young girls into silence when they speak up.  Super Intendents who do not properly report incidents. It is not just a local issue, it is systematic.  No matter how well you think you know a teacher, a substitute, a coach, an administrator, even an official.  Once a child makes a complaint, once a  parent mentions the issue, once it has been spoken about, it needs investigated fully.   Listen, we know this is a hard issue and at the same time it is an issue that needs addressed every time.

Every time there is an allegation a legal reporting process should be followed.  If that process is not followed, regardless of the outcome, your county school system is failing you and the students they exist for.

It’s not hard to see the connective tissue anymore.

Legislative Bandaids on Bullet Wounds

Sure, they passed laws.

• HB 4 Anti-Grooming Act: finally made adult manipulation of minors a felony.

• Training mandates from KDE on child abuse recognition.

• Criminal penalties for staff who abuse or neglect.

But what happens when the enforcers themselves fail?
When mandatory reporters look away?
When supervisors are the abusers?
When systems enable more silence than safety?

Legislation without enforcement is performance.
And Kentucky has been performing for a long time.

The Numbers Say Corporal Punishment Is Gone, But Abuse Isn’t

The 2024 School Report Card says corporal punishment has hit zero.

But that’s not the real measure.

Not when 5-year-olds are restrained by teachers.
Not when autistic kids come home with bruises and no answers.
Not when your kid’s coach sends them a DM at midnight.

Not when the abuse allegations are made, any time, at any point.

It’s not the policy that matters.
It’s the willingness to report.
And the willingness to act when it’s reported.

What We’re Calling For

• Full public transparency of all staff abuse complaints over the last 10 years.

• Whistleblower protections for teachers and students.

• Real enforcement teeth behind KDE and KHSAA oversight.

• Statewide database of disciplined educators and staff, visible to the public.

• Criminal prosecution of administrators who knowingly conceal abuse.

Final Word

This isn’t about one county. This is about what happens when silence becomes policy. When power protects power. When the most vulnerable become disposable.  There have been comments from many that want to act like the issues don’t exist.  That the allegations can never be true. They would rather hold silence than a voice.  Denial is a slippery slope.  Patterns do not lie.

We are watching.
We are investigating.
We will not stop.

Not until Kentucky becomes safe for every child.  Our school articles, allegations, investigations and what we uncover will be part of many articles.

Whisper One Out